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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27053029">the marks we carry</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspidities/pseuds/Aspidities'>Aspidities</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:20:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27053029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspidities/pseuds/Aspidities</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows the first words your soulmate will say to you appear on your arm as an identifying mark. But what if those words are...really dirty?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2063</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gays in Earth 38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the marks we carry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sometimes people will give me very simple prompts that they understandably believe will be very simple, pure smut, no-plot-needed stories. They hand this off to me with the expectation that I can clearly see the logic in that assumption. </p><p>And then I go and contrive a way to make it entirely the opposite.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena is fourteen, going on fifteen, when her mark appears. </p><p>She’s making out with Taylor Young, an alpha boy her mother doesn’t approve of, against the back wall of the school. Omegas aren’t supposed to be on this side. She doesn’t care. He has his hand on her breast and his uncouth fingers in her panties. She has her tongue in his mouth and her hand wrapped around his dick. </p><p>They’ve done this once or twice now. Usually it ends with Lena having to wipe a handful of semen against the red brick wall, and Taylor red-faced, doing up his pants. This time he seems determined to give her some kind of satisfaction too, and she wishes he wouldn’t, because his nails are dirty and untrimmed, and he’s too rough, but something about the frenzy of it, with his cock warm and sticky in her hand and her breath coming out in pants in between awkward kisses, and Lena feels like she might <em> almost— </em></p><p>“What’s that?” Taylor puffs out. His laugh is startled and high. “Oh shit, is that your <em> mark</em>?”</p><p>Her left forearm had been up against the wall, gripping against dry brick for purchase, and the words there appeared as if by magical tattoo gun. </p><p>
  <em> Damn, you’re tight.  </em>
</p><p>Taylor’s laughing hasn’t stopped. It feels like a thud of rain pattering on her ears. She’s staring at the words on her wrist, ears burning, but then he turns to her and she wishes he would say something kind, maybe something sweet. </p><p>Instead, his mouth twists in a cruel fourteen-year-old-alpha grin. His breath smells like Extra gum and sour milk as he starts to speak. “<em> ‘Damn, you’re </em>—“</p><p>She puts her hand on his face, and pushes him away. “Oh come on, Lena don’t be like that, it’s just a <em>joke</em>.”</p><p>But Lena doesn’t listen to his whining recriminations and muttered insults. She goes to collect her book bag, and decides to never let anyone—particularly not <em> stupid </em> alphas— see her mark again. And that’s that. </p><p>***</p><p>Kara is sixteen, going on seventeen, and she loves the fact that she’s been picked for the varsity lacrosse team, but she <em> doesn’t </em> love the locker rooms. </p><p>She disrobes nervously, keeping her wristband on tight and tucking the towel around her waist. The wristband is sweaty and itches, and she wants to take it off. Eliza told her the wristband was her choice, and she could choose to never show people her mark if she wanted, but that was just ‘mom’ talk. Kara knew out here, in the real world of high school, it was <em> weird </em> not to show your mark. </p><p>The only other kid she knew of at school who wore a wristband was the lonely beta boy who sat by himself at lunch period, eating a ham and cheese sandwich. No one talked to him. Word was that his mark read <em> Your dick is in my fish tank.  </em></p><p>Kara doesn’t want that fate. </p><p>She’s on good footing here. The team likes her so far, and her older sister has laid the patchwork for a successful high school career. Everyone likes Alex, with her brash mouth and her mark that says <em> You saved my life, Agent Danvers.  </em></p><p>Kara wishes her own mark was as noble. Or even just less obscene. Instead the words on her right arm say <em> Fuck, you’re big.  </em></p><p>The words aren’t what she wanted. They make her blush. Sometimes, in the shower, she tries to scrub them away. Eliza told her that her mark would make sense in time, and Kara tries to internalize that some nights, when she lays awake and wonders what kind of omega would ever say that to her right away, without ever knowing Kara’s name first. But it doesn’t make sense. </p><p>Still, though, it’s not that bad compared to some. </p><p>She looks in the showers. Leslie Willis is in there, and she’s waving at Kara to come on. Leslie’s mark just says <em>Fuck You Dude </em>and that seems to suit her, but she is nice, in her own way. Leslie could be a friend, even if Kara is a little wary of her sudden shocking intensity when it comes to emotions, but friends will ask about wristbands. Even good friends. So Kara makes a decision—<em> to hell with it </em>—and shucks her wristband with the towel. She goes into the warm water, and is slapped on the back by Leslie and a few of the other alphas. No one says anything. </p><p>But then, when she gets out on the field, Leslie jars her roughly from behind with her stick. “See ya out there, <em> Big Dick Danvers.” </em></p><p>She’s laughing, and the rest of the team is laughing as they sprint away in their little plaid skirts, and Kara knows this is the kind of thing as an alpha that she should puff up and feel proud of, but instead it feels like something private, like her underpants hoisted on the flagpole. The inside of her is cramped and small and hurt, like the world is uglier than she thought. </p><p>She picks up her stick and goes after the ball, but it’s with much less heart than she did in try-outs. </p><p>***</p><p>Lena is twenty, going on twenty-one, and she’s sitting outside her father’s study, listening to her parents argue. </p><p>“She’s going to ruin our reputation! An omega with a mark like that, going unmated? And she says she intends to <em> stay </em> that way?”</p><p>“Lionel, calm down.” Lillian sounds like she’s pouring herself a drink. “Plenty of omegas aren’t getting mated in college these days. It’s nothing new. She’ll meet her match after she graduates and then—“</p><p>“She’s a <em> whore</em>.” Her father spits out, and Lena winces through the door. “Mark my words. That attitude of hers will only grow worse, and with a mark like that?” He makes a <em> tsk </em> sound. “We can only expect the gutter for her match.”</p><p>“Lionel!” Lillian hisses. The sound of ice clinking in the glass is hurried. “That is your <em> daughter </em> you’re speaking about.” </p><p>“She’s an omega, Lillian.” Lionel is brutally efficient as ever. “Even if she wore a suitable mark, she’d still be bearing some other house’s lineage. I just thank God that we have a fine alpha son to carry on the name. At least Lex won’t shame us.” </p><p><em> Nor none of </em> his <em> whores. </em>Lena thinks wryly. Her stomach is twisted like a paper bag. </p><p>“Lena won’t shame us either.” Lillian says, firmly, and for a moment Lena’s stomach lifts, thinking perhaps, maybe—</p><p>But then Lillian adds: “I’ve already arranged a match for her. We don’t need to rely on her mark. Andrew Lord is looking for a mate for his son Maxwell. After graduation, we can get her to come home for the summer, and have the wedding at the Berkshires. The two of them will make a lovely pair, and we might even get suitable grandchildren.”</p><p>Lena’s heart dropped through her stomach and fell three stories down to the basement. <em> Max Lord. </em> The worst alpha at Yale, by far—and there were far more than enough to choose from. Max Lord who smugly interrupted her in class with the wrong answers, Max Lord who once drunkenly intercepted her at a party and tried to put his tongue in her mouth. Max Lord who called her a <em> frigid bitch </em>and sent her 38 text messages about how wrong she was to turn him down. </p><p><em> That </em> Max Lord. </p><p>“Hmm, the Lord boy does show quite a bit of promise.”  Her father sounds actually interested in the idea—<em> damn </em> him. “I’ll speak to Andrew over golf next Saturday at the Green. I’m sure we can come to a good agreement on the dowry.” </p><p>“Good. It’s settled then.” Lena hears the clinking of glasses and her heart plummets.</p><p>Later that night, pacing in her room, Lena takes stock of her options. She has nearly fifteen thousand dollars in savings from her summer jobs, a paid-off car, and two bonds in her name. It’s not much, but it’s enough. She has a soon-to-be degree in botany, her wits, and her luck. </p><p>After graduation, she flees to the other side of the country and doesn’t talk to her family again unless absolutely necessary. </p><p>***</p><p>Kara is twenty-five, going on twenty-six, and she thinks she’s living a pretty good life. </p><p>She has friends, she has a good job, nice apartment. Wonderful family. She’s even dating a lot. </p><p>She doesn’t care about her mark anymore. She’s had good therapy. She knows it's okay to feel weird about it being so sexual, but she also knows there’s nothing wrong with that, either. </p><p>It’s just...hard not to get her hopes up when she sees someone for the first time. Hard not to catch her breath every time hoping to hear those words. And she hears other words, other <em> nice </em> words. Sometimes she even hears variations of it in bed, and that’s a <em> very </em> nice compliment. </p><p>But there’s never….that <em> moment </em> . The way they talk about in the biology textbooks. The sudden realization. The <em> Match.</em></p><p>Kara knows, logistically, that some people never meet their match. It’s a very big world. People get married, have kids, and die, all without meeting their exact soul bound personal destiny. It’s not uncommon. But nowadays, with big cities and heavier telecommunication, you can put your mark words online, and try to find your match that way. Kara knows two couples who’ve met internationally and made their bond after meeting. It happens that way, sometimes. </p><p>She’s tried it. But either her soulmate isn’t interested in social media, or they’re currently taken. Either way, it stings when she looks at the ‘ZERO MATCHES’ screen. </p><p>But she keeps trying. Again and again, because what is life without a little hope?</p><p>***</p><p>Lena is twenty two, going on twenty three, and she’s laying in bed with the woman she loves but knows she can never have. </p><p>The apartment is shabby, but it’s hers. Her parents don’t know where she lives, and she doubts they care. She’s got a job at a plant store and she’s filling her life with new, growing things. </p><p>Like Andrea. </p><p>Andrea is soft where she draws circles on Lena’s arm, leaning over her body. Her hair is a dark waterfall of brown, and her eyes are laughing, but kind. Her fingers trace the mark.</p><p>“Wish I’d known.” The beta says wryly. </p><p>Andrea’s own mark is in Spanish. Lena’s never tried to translate it. It’s painful enough to know that it isn’t a match. But life isn’t magic and sometimes biology isn’t fair. Lena tries to ignore those things when Andrea touches her. </p><p>“You know I don’t want it, anyway.” Lena rolls, pulling at Andrea’s arms. She’s naked and she feels free this way, safe in the knowledge that Andrea won’t mock or harm her. But it still feels too vulnerable when the beta touches her mark, and she twists away. </p><p>“But you <em> are, </em>you know.” Andrea’s mouth is open on her smile when she goes down for the kiss, and her fingers are searching below the thin sheet. </p><p>“Don’t say it.” Lena pleads, but she’s laughing too. </p><p>“<em>Tight</em>—“</p><p>Lena captures her laughing, biting lips and wishes fervently that things could stay this way. </p><p>But she knows they won’t.</p><p>***</p><p>Kara is thirty and she’s finally going to take control of her life, damn it. </p><p>She’s broken up with Mike—for good this time—and moved his things out of her apartment. The sex was getting mediocre and she hates how he gets so insecure and defensive over her mark, and her alpha status. At parties, if he gets drunk, he can be downright distasteful. She’s had enough. Alex practically cheers when she shares the news. </p><p>She’s also had enough of feeling shame, feeling like she hasn’t earned what she wants in life. She and Alex go out to the bar to celebrate, a pair of regular alphas on the town, and Kara lets her sleeve stay casually rolled up. She sees an omega looking curiously at her mark, and lets them look, feeling bold and desirable as she drinks slowly from the sweating neck of her beer. </p><p>It’s okay to feel wanted. She knows this. And it feels good. But she goes home alone that night. And that’s okay too. </p><p>She’s lined up a job interview at Catco tomorrow and she intends to nail it, to finally start using her journalism degree for something beyond little puff pieces in local rags. Catco is a rumor mill, sure, but it’s a big break. This could be the start of her career as a real reporter. </p><p>She keeps trying to fix and re-tie her tie in the mirror that night but each time the knot is almost too snug to deal with. </p><p>“Stupid thing.” She mutters to herself, well-aware that it’s now almost midnight and she needs to get some sleep. “Why are you so <em> tight…”</em></p><p>**</p><p>Lena is twenty-eight and she’s the proud owner of National City’s finest plant boutique. </p><p>It’s not much, but it is all her own. And thanks to a few glowing reviews and a couple of cameos on celebrity YouTubes, her little boutique is the hottest spot in midtown, and has been for a few years running. She can keep her prices high and her plant selection rare—the customers just keep coming. And then they come right back.</p><p>The store has taken off so much that Lena is now offering a delivery service to local businesses. Home office houseplants have really found a niche market in these cubicle hall bullpens, and Lena was the first to offer bespoke plant customization. She’s now cornered the market, and had to hire more employees to cover it. </p><p>One of those employees, a certain Eve Teschmacher, is now badly faking a cough over the phone. “I can’t come in.” <em> Cough, cough. </em>“I’m so sorry, Lena but I’m too sick.”</p><p>Across the counter, Lena’s other employee, Nia, makes a face, points to the cheerful sunny day outside, and mimes a bottle of alcohol being drunk. Lena waves at her, but privately, she is inclined to agree. Eve is overly fond of the beach and her instagram account. “Okay, well just feel better Eve. Maybe we’ll see you tom—-“</p><p>“Okay <em> thanks!</em>” Eve hangs up after an abruptly brighter tone of voice, and Lena sighs. </p><p>“Well, that’s my delivery route for the day ruined.”</p><p>“I can take over.” Nia offers, fluffing the leaves of a freshly-trimmed rose bush, and Lena shoots her a smile. </p><p>“You hate driving.” She points out, ticking off her fingers. “You hate offices, and you hate stairs. Also you’re about twenty pounds lighter than that giant sansevieria going to Catco this afternoon, so that’s a no go, because I don’t want you to throw your back out. But thank you, you’re sweet to offer.”</p><p>“I’m just saying, I’d do it for you.” Nia returns, earnestly, and puts her palms to her back, groaning. “But yeah, thanks, my back hasn’t been right since that tennis accident last week. But are you sure you’ll be okay? That stupid sanseviera is <em> huge.”</em> </p><p>“Don’t worry.” Lena looks over at the 7+ feet of snake plant she has to deliver today. “I’m sure I’ll manage.” </p><p>‘Manage’ was about all Lena was capable of doing, as it turned out. The snake plant is a wonderful combination—incredibly heavy, unwieldy, and <em> large. </em>She puts it on the hand truck, and guides it up into the elevator at Catco at an angle, but the pristine white doors almost closed on the tallest leaves, and she backs out of the elevator hurriedly, concerned. The plant is paid for undamaged—she can’t crush it’s nicest feature right before delivery. </p><p>Now there’s nothing for it but the stairs. </p><p>Seven flights. Seven <em> fucking </em> flights, and Lena is cursing Eve’s name with every single one of them. The hand truck has to go back in the van, of course, so now she’s hefting the plant by hand. The large pot is sweaty under her hot fingers and she has to readjust every few floors, panting. Her very nice green blouse has pockets of dark stain under the armpits now, and she’s strongly regretting her decision to go in heels—stupid of her to think she had to dress nicely for Catco when half the time she’s apparently going to be in a goddamn stairwell, lugging a giant sanseviera up seven flights of stairs. </p><p>Finally, <em> finally,</em> she gets to the seventh floor. It’s a small victory that can’t be celebrated for long, because she hears talking on the other side of the door. Some congratulatory murmurs, well-wishes on a new job. Lena can’t hear much, but she doesn’t care. All that matters is someone is about to come into the stairwell soon, so she needs to muster up the last of her strength, wipe her sweaty brow, and lift up the damn pot again.</p><p>Several things happen at once, right then. </p><p>Lena hefts the plant, looks up at the seven feet of snake plant currently caressing the popcorn ceiling, and mutters: “<em>Fuck, </em>you’re big.” </p><p>At the exact moment the words leave her lips, an alpha with her blonde head down and brow furrowed in concentration, bulls through the door, struggling with her Windsor knot. </p><p>“<em>Damn, </em>you’re tight.” She says. </p><p>And Lena drops the pot. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>There’s a very loud thunk and a spray of dirt at Kara’s feet but she isn’t even aware of that. Doesn’t care about it at all. She just got the job of her dreams and seconds ago that was all she cared about, but now the entire journalism industry could collapse overnight and she’d hardly even notice. </p><p>She blinks. “<em>What </em> did you say?”</p><p>The omega is dark-haired and her eyes are absurdly green, with tinges of blue. She’s staring at Kara with her mouth wide open and hands quivering in front of her body like she doesn’t know what to do with them. Her white jeans have dirt on them and she looks very sweaty, very frustrated—and she is <em> the single most gorgeous thing Kara has ever seen.  </em></p><p>Everything in Kara’s body is lighting up, like she’s touched a socket or an electric fence. The little hairs on her arms and legs are lifted, as are the ones on the back of her neck. She feels jittery, intense, mouth suddenly dry as cotton. “What did you say?” She repeats, louder because she has to know. </p><p>The omega blushes, hard. “I—“</p><p>“Did you say this?” Kara’s got her sleeve rolled up and pushed out toward the omega like a lifeline. Her heart is pounding away. </p><p>The omega closes her mouth with a snap. Looks at Kara’s urgent face. And mutely, carefully, raises her left forearm. </p><p>And Kara sees the words. </p><p>“Oh.” Kara might be crying, she thinks it’s possible. Her heart is beating so fast. “Oh but you’re so <em> beautiful.</em> I’m so sorry. I thought you would be—-different. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. And I made you drop your plant. I’m so <em> sorry.”</em></p><p>“It’s okay.” The omega’s voice makes her feel like shouting. Like dancing. It’s—it’s like breath filling her lungs to hear that voice, at last. “I—oh god. Um. It’s a plastic pot, so it should be okay.”</p><p>“Let me help you.” Kara is instinctively helpful. </p><p>She drops to her knees and starts scooping dirt back into the large white pot. But she’s still staring and she knows she’s staring. The omega is frozen for a moment, and then she drops to her knees too. Her eyes are so pretty up close and Kara wants to kiss her so bad—</p><p>“What’s your name?” Kara asks. She can’t help it. The plant is between them like a shield and the omega stiffens behind it. </p><p>“Lena.” Her eyes are so dark, so guarded. Kara wants to find who hurt her and put their face into a ditch. She’s never felt this way before. It makes her want to laugh, or start crying again. </p><p>“Lena.” Kara repeats, more than a little thunderstruck, and Lena blushes. God, she <em> blushes</em>. “I’m Kara. Kara Danvers. I’m uh, new here as of now, I guess.”</p><p>“I own the plant shop in midtown.” Lena mumbles, looking down into the plant pot. There’s dirt on her face. “Oh hell, this thing is going to need to be repotted.”</p><p>“Can I take you to dinner?” Kara blurts out. It’s the wrong thing to say. She should say something more neutral like—<em> can I help you with this repotting </em>—but she’s lost all her capacity to think beyond the electric feeling in her skull. “Sorry, um. After we get this plant fixed, that is.”</p><p>“Oh. I—uh. No.” Lena tugs the plant a little bit away from her grasp. “No, thank you.”</p><p>Kara’s more than crestfallen. She’s shattered. Her face must show it. “What? Why not? We’re—“</p><p>“No.” Lena says again, firmly, but her gaze is a bit wild. “I don’t think I’m free.”</p><p>“Oh, are you dating someone?” Kara knows that’s common. She shifts her body language to be friendlier, trying not to come across so desperate to touch Lena—although she definitely is, and she’s definitely feeling that deep disappointment.  “Sorry, no big deal. Do you want to—“</p><p>“No. I’m not dating someone. I just. Oh fuck.” Lena has dirty hands and she’s holding them in front of her body like she has no idea what to do with them. “Um. You should find a better one. A better match, I mean. I’m not the right one. This was….just a crazy accident.”</p><p>“I think that’s just how it works.” Kara offers, gently. Lena is like a wild deer right now—she doesn’t want to spook her with loud noises. “Why don’t we get you some water? Or maybe, do you want to sit down?”</p><p>“No. I’m fine. I’m sorry. No.” Lena plunks the heavy pot into Kara’s arms and backs away like a terrified horse. “Could you deliver that to the reception desk please? Tell them I’ll come back later to repot it. I’m sorry. Thank you.”</p><p>With that confusing string of words, her soulmate flees. </p><p>Just...runs right down the stairs, without looking back. Kara cranes her neck over a lancing leaf of green and yellow, and watches her go. She thinks she hears Lena saying <em> fuck fuck fuck </em>under her breath like a chant. </p><p>The alpha sighs, and hefts her armful of greenery. “Guess I’m taking you to reception.” She says to the plant, and then, she spies the green brand sticker on the side of the pot and allows herself a victorious, if slightly sneaky, grin. It’s a large uppercase L with a blooming flower snaking around the sides. </p><p>“And then I’m going to head to LilyCorp in midtown.”</p><p>***</p><p>Lena has had a <em> very </em> trying day, and she would like it to be over, thank you very much. </p><p>She’s hiding in the back of her shop with her hidden whiskey bottle and a series of epiphytes that need remounting. But her hands are trembling and her eyes can’t focus. All she sees is blue. </p><p><em> ‘I’m Kara. Kara Danvers.’ </em> </p><p>Damn that alpha for being <em> that </em> attractive. Lena was just trying to do a single very goddamn difficult delivery. She didn’t <em> want </em> to find a match—she’d never wanted to find a match. Not since her parents had tried to marry her off to Max Lord. The idea feels like a leash for the unwary—a stupid biological quirk that some people devote way too much time to thinking about. Not Lena. She’s been committed to living her life alone, having a few lovers here and there, and counting her many successes. That’s it. That’s all she’s ever expected or told herself she wanted out of life. </p><p>She’s never even entered her words into one of those stupid match search things online. And no, it’s not because she’s afraid of what she’d find, with a mark like hers….that’s preposterous. She’s just...wary. She’s smart. She’s not one of those naive girls in the romantic films who believes in—</p><p><em> ‘I’m Kara. Kara Danvers.’ </em> </p><p>Lena shook her head, and tried to dispel the memory of the words <em> Fuck, you’re big </em>on Kara’s sun-kissed forearm, or the little freckle just below it. The way the alpha smelled like summer and sex rolled into one. That wide, joyous smile when she saw Lena’s mark. Lena had never seen anyone react to her mark with such blithe delight instead of carnal interest before….</p><p><em> ‘I’m Kara. Kara Danvers.’ </em> </p><p>“Hi, my name’s Kara Danvers, I’m looking for….uh, Lena?”</p><p>Lena blinks, and thinks perhaps she’s having an auditory hallucination brought on by wishful thinking. But no, oh <em> god, </em>no, she smells that scent again. That perfect popsicle-on-the-Fourth-of-July <em> scent </em>. And just like that she’s all tingly again and her knees are weak. Just like the stairwell. </p><p>Nia is at the counter, charming and effervescent as usual. Lena wishes on any deity listening that <em> just for once </em>her employee would be sullen and standoffish—-</p><p>“Oh! Sure! She’s in the back, let me just grab her. One sec.”</p><p>—but of course, not today. The universe wants her to <em> suffer </em> today. Lena groans and ducks down behind a tray of flowering begonias, but it’s too late. The swinging door bangs wide with Nia’s entry and she sees Kara. A flash of blonde hair tucked behind sunglasses, a white linen shirt that looks <em> way too good </em> on her shoulders, and a wide, knowing grin. <em> Fuck. </em>The eye contact feels like sizzling heat on her flesh and Lena's insides clench hopelessly away on nothing. </p><p><em> Go away. </em> She thinks, semi-desperately. <em> I’m not the type of girl you’re looking for. I’m not.</em></p><p>“Lena?” Nia crouches down behind the starter trays. “Are we hiding from the gorgeous alpha who just walked in knowing your name?”</p><p>“No!” Lena hisses. And then looks down. “Well, yes. But...it’s complicated…”</p><p>“Oh my god. Did you date that gorgeous hunk of blonde beef?” Nia gives her an appreciative nudge. “Please tell me she’s as big as she looks.”</p><p>Lena blushes furiously. “No. We didn’t date. I just ran into her today. She’s...we….her arm…” She wheels a hand in the air aimlessly and then smashes her face into her palms. “I think she’s my Match…?”</p><p>“Lena!” Nia is not keeping her voice down, and Lena has to shush her frantically, eying the porthole of the swinging door to the customer area. “Holy shit, that’s fantastic! Congratulations! But then...why are you hiding in here and not riding that palomino stallion into the sunset?”</p><p>“Nia, for the love of…” Lena rolls her eyes. “Because I said something completely obscene to her! And she said something equally obscene back! And I don’t believe in matches, anyway. The whole thing is ridiculous. I’ve never bought into it.” </p><p>Lena looks down at her left forearm, covered by the bracelet she always wears. It’s begun to itch, almost frenetically, but she resist the urge to scratch it. Nia has her head tilted sympathetically. </p><p>“Did you feel the tinglies?” </p><p>“The what?” </p><p>“You either know or you don’t.” Nia supplies, shrugging. “For me it felt like electricity all over my body. Brainy didn’t know how to handle it at first, either, but he figured it out quick enough.” </p><p>Nia laughs, fondly. The inside of her forearm reads <em> Excuse me miss, but your physical symmetry is quite pleasing to the eye. </em>And Brainy does really talk like that, hence the nickname. Lena has seen how Nia looks at him, her match. How their eyes stay glued, long after one has left the building. </p><p>She can <em> feel </em> Kara waiting on the other side of the door, and it’s eerie how warm that presence makes her insides feel. How she knows that Kara is calmly waiting. Patient, expectant. She gets the feeling that if she pretends to be gone today, Kara will come back tomorrow. And the next day, and the next. </p><p>It should be annoying, but it isn’t, and Lena doesn’t know <em> why </em>. </p><p>“I’m just saying. Maybe give it a little conversation to think things over.” Nia concludes, softly. As if she knows exactly what Lena’s thinking. </p><p>And maybe she does. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>Kara’s taking her very reclusive, very reluctant soulmate out for their first date along the waterfront, and she couldn’t be happier about it. </p><p>She’s trying to keep her excitement in check, actually, because Lena still has that very wary prey-animal look about her, and she’s got her arms folded around her body, although it’s still warm out. Kara knows she needs to go slow, be respectful of Lena’s space, but her inner self is leaping for joy. All her life she’s wanted this, but was afraid of how it would happen. Now that it’s happened, she thinks she was silly to doubt that it would ever be anything other than bliss. Of course it is. </p><p>Because it’s Lena and she’s so <em> pretty </em> Kara’s heart is going to break. </p><p>“So, uh, plants, huh?” </p><p>Lena looks sharply up from her feet and Kara has the grace to blush. “Ah. I mean. You like plants? You run a really nice shop. I’ve seen it featured in the <em> NC Monthly.” </em></p><p>“Yeah. They did a spread last week, too.” Lena shrugs, softly. “I like growing things.”</p><p>“That’s really nice. Maybe you can help me not overwater my succulents?” Kara tries, smiling crookedly. </p><p>“That I can’t help with. Hard to take the water out of the plant.” Lena says, and Kara’s smile is growing bigger because her match just made a <em> joke </em>—albeit just a little one. “And you. Ah. Work at Catco?”</p><p>“Now I do.” Kara tells her. “Just landed my final interview today. I start as a reporter tomorrow. It’s my dream job.”</p><p>“Congratulations.” Lena says, by automatic polite instinct, but she’s surprised to find how much she actually means it. And how much her body tightens in longing when Kara’s face lights up. “That’s uh, really great for you. Is that what you’ve always wanted to do?”</p><p>“Pretty much, yeah.” Kara shrugs and kicks a rock along the water’s edge, skipping it across the path. “How about you? Are your parents plant nerds too or something?”</p><p>Lena winces, hard, and Kara curses herself. <em> Oh no, sore subject. </em>“No. They’re definitely not.” </p><p>She looks like she’s thinking about escaping. Her eyes are looking straight ahead, like she’s already thinking of an excuse. Kara has to do something. Her brain won’t let her think of anything beyond <em> touch her touch her touch her </em> so—</p><p>Kara touches Lena’s wrist, inadvertently right on her mark, and the touch feels like dipping into a warm bath. “Hey, it’s okay. We don’t have to talk about your parents. Mine are dead, anyway.”</p><p>Lena jerks her head up, looking horrified. But she doesn’t pull away from Kara’s grip. She moves a little closer. “I—I’m sorry. Mine are just assholes.”</p><p>Kara laughs at that. “I’m adopted, and my adopted dad’s an asshole who ran off, so we can not talk about him too.” </p><p>She lets her thumb boldly stroke along the inside of Lena’s tender wrist, where her veins beat blue against her pale skin. The omega shivers and Kara feels it tugging on her too, making her stiffen. </p><p>“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I swear, Lena. I just want to <em> know </em> you.”</p><p>Lena looks up into her eyes. The connection there is gloriously instant, and Kara almost sighs at how it tingles in her skin. She can tell Lena feels her earnestness. She can <em> feel </em> it. </p><p>“I know.” The omega says. Soft, so soft. “Let’s go somewhere more private where we can talk.”</p><p>***</p><p>They go to Kara’s place because it’s closest. The alpha is all nervous jitters in the hallway, asking if Lena wants her to make food, explaining she makes great pasta, asking if Lena’s gluten-free. She almost drops her key instead of fitting it into the lock. </p><p>Maybe she’s picking up that Lena’s not hungry for food. </p><p>The energy in Lena’s body is like a low current, buzzing away in her lower half. She feels on edge, uncertain, but magnetically drawn in anyway. Maybe it’s biology, maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s just that it’s been a <em> long </em> time since Andrea, and Kara looks like she knows her way around a woman’s body. Lena watches her big hands move on the door, hungrily. </p><p>She wonders if Kara is, in fact, as <em> big </em> as she looks. </p><p>“We could order in, if you want? There’s a place that does kebabs that are really great, so we could—“ Kara leads her inside, babbling away about food, and Lena is struck by how pleasant the surroundings are. Exposed brick, lots of hanging space, lots of light. It feels...cozy. Like it was waiting for her. </p><p>She shakes her head. “Kara, it’s okay, I’m not hungry.” The alpha stares at her, big blue eyes rounded. Her mouth is doing something funny at the corners. “What?”</p><p>“Nothing, it’s just….you said my name.” The alpha sighs out. She straightens a bit. “Sorry, I don’t mean to rush you. I’m very cool with things staying slow.”</p><p>“You don’t want us to use names?” Lena’s mouth quirks up. She wants to laugh. This alpha is adorable in her painstaking attempts to display modern sensibilities. It’s a far cry from the alphas Lena has known. </p><p>“No, it’s just I—-“ Kara stops. She grins, slowly. “You’re making fun of me.”</p><p>“A little, yes.” Lena admits, and now she’s really smiling. </p><p>“That’s not cool, I’m just trying to be chivalrous.” Kara complains, lightly, eyes dancing. Lena is drawing a little closer. She can’t quite seem to stop herself.</p><p>“You’re very good at it.” Lena promises. Her fingers hook into the alpha’s belt. The press of her abdomen against Lena’s knuckles is hard as steel. She has to rise on her heels just slightly to catch Kara’s leaning lips, and when she does—</p><p>It’s heat, liquid spreading through her body. There’s no awkwardness, no silly first date teeth-knocking and getting-to-know-you dance. They just <em> fit. </em>Lena opens her mouth by instinct when their lips connect, and Kara’s tongue slides smoothly into it, stroking into her as if she’s emulating what she could do between Lena’s thighs and <em> oh— </em></p><p>It feels really good. </p><p>Kara tastes of honey and cinnamon, breathless and sweet. She kisses like she’s trying to fit all the way inside of Lena already and it’s making Lena wet as anything ever has. It’s incredible how wet Lena’s getting, ridiculous even. </p><p>When they break apart, Lena is surprised to find her hand winding tight in the hem of Kara’s shirt, ready to tear it off. “Let’s go to your bedroom.”</p><p>“Are you sure?” Kara’s lips graze hers, and her breath is damp and smells faintly of cold water. </p><p>“I’m sure. Take me to bed.” Lena dives into that cold water pool and drinks from it.</p><p>She’d asked to be taken there, but it still surprises her enough to squeak when the alpha puts her hands up under her thighs and lifts with a grunt. Lena’s legs lock around Kara’s waist instinctively, and it’s a good thing, too, because Kara kisses her the whole way to the bedroom and doesn’t look down once. </p><p>The bedroom is draped in gauzy fabric, soft earth tones, very 90s, but Lena likes it. She doesn’t have time to admire it, though, because Kara has her on the bed, kissing her and pressing the weight of her body down, gently, as if offering herself. </p><p>“We don’t have to do anything.” The alpha says into her neck, breathing heavily. Lena wants to laugh at the incredulousness of it, but Kara appears so serious that she relents. “I know we’re—but I don’t want to rush you. I meant that, uh, earlier.”</p><p>“I want to.” Lena assures Kara’s crinkled, worried brow. Her hand raises up to stroke it, and Kara tilts her head into Lena’s palm welcomingly, like a cat. “Let’s just see how things go, okay?”</p><p>“We can stop if you want to.” Kara tells her, earnestly, and Lena can feel how hard she is already, pressed against her leg. It’s sweet how Kara wants to deny her body’s urges for Lena’s comfort. </p><p>Lena arches against her, though, just to show that she’s not very <em> sweet </em>. </p><p>“I want to feel you.” Lena tells her, listening to Kara gasp at the sudden contact. “Don’t make me wait.”</p><p>And god—-it’s <em> hot </em> how Kara’s eyes flash down at her and her hands tighten on Lena’s wrists. “If you want it like that, then you’d better behave.”</p><p>Just like that, she’s found Kara’s alpha. And oh, <em> wow.</em> Lena is <em> not </em> prepared. </p><p>It’s a low boil, consuming her insides. Kara’s kiss is liquid fire, setting her ablaze, and she’s bubbling, simmering with it. Every featherlight touch of the alpha’s hand down her side or up her shirt has her spaced out and dreamy, ready for more. By the time Kara finally helps her take her shirt off, she’s already ruined her panties. </p><p>It’s sweet how Kara looks so awestruck when she shucks herself free of her bra. Like a teenager. But the way she reacts when Lena touches her cock through the lining of her shorts is nothing childish. Her shudder and slow, meaningful thrust into Lena’s hand has the omega shivering right back, feeling her body pulse. </p><p>The nakedness of Kara is awe-inspiring. Like a Grecian statue. She’s gloriously sun-bronzed (and Lena needs to ask about this suspicious lack of tan lines because <em> goddamn </em>) and she’s hard where Lena is soft. Touching her arm is like touching the tensing flank of a horse. Lena feels power and nervousness, all in one. She wants to soothe Kara. She wants to encourage her. </p><p>And more prevalently—she wants to <em> ride </em> her until both of them break. </p><p>When Lena asks with her hands for Kara to roll, the alpha does so willingly, sighing as Lena climbs into her lap. “So gorgeous.” Her thumb rolls indulgently over one of Lena’s pink nipples, and her other hand spreads over Lena’s hip, holding her in place. “Can’t believe how pretty you look like this.”</p><p>The praise is warm and melting in her stomach, making Lena want to squirm and drape herself against Kara. Instead, she puts her arms around the alpha’s neck, and rocks purposefully. The alpha’s cock is a beautiful shade of pink-red, and it’s arched to her belly, but it starts to stiffen as Lena rolls her pussy against it, teasingly. Glistening strands of her desire are spreading between the reddened shaft and Lena’s labia, tying them together. It’s all hurtling her toward some hazy inner place where she’s too turned on to think beyond little pathetic omega noises and begging, and she’s a little frightened of going too deep, so fast. </p><p>But Kara’s hands on her hips are wide, heavy, grounding. The alpha kiss her with such clear worship on her lips that Lena can’t help but melt into it. Kara feels strong and solid. Reliable. Safe. Her body is warm and her eyes are the clearest shade of blue. </p><p>Lena’s maybe a little in love already, but she doesn’t quite want to admit that yet. </p><p>They’re teasing each other, working each other up. It feels almost familiar. Treading on comfortable ground. Strange how easy it is, to slip her hand around Kara’s cock while she kisses her way around the alpha’s pert pink nipples. It is <em> big </em> and Lena’s never had an alpha before, but she <em> wants </em> this one. Oh <em> yes </em>, she does. She feels slow and confident with the thickness of it, the heft of the head in her palm as she runs it slickly over the tip, gathering precum for her slow glide down, and it makes her stir when Kara thrusts into her hand. </p><p>“I’ve never been with an alpha before.” She confesses, hot breath spilling onto Kara’s chest while the alpha bucks up into her touch. “Only betas. And they’re not anywhere near as big. You must get compliments all the time.”</p><p>“I do.” Kara says— somewhat breathlessly. “But they’re not as good as hearing you say it.”</p><p>Kara tangles her hand in Lena’s hair and pulls her up for a ferocious, devouring kiss. It feels like staking a claim, and Lena opens for it, submits to it. When Kara breaks away to suckle at her neck, she’s moaning a little, and clutching onto the alpha’s shoulders. She’s never felt like this. It’s so easy to <em> give in </em> to Kara. </p><p>“I bet you get told how <em> tight </em> you are all the time.” Kara says, mostly into her neck, fingers slipping around her cock to tease at Lena’s opening. “But I bet it’s different when I say it. Want to try it out?”</p><p>“Yes.” Lena breathes out, rocking her hips shamelessly forward. </p><p>“God, you <em> are </em> tight.” Kara tells her, voice lowered in soft wonder, and Lena’s never moaned so loud in her life. </p><p>It’s almost quiet, when Kara fucks her with one, two, three fingers, brow furrowed in concentration. Just the wet, slick noises of what she’s doing, and Lena’s little hitching breaths. It’s silent and heady but Lena wants more. She’s rubbing Kara’s cock with the flat of her palm, keeping it trapped against her clit, and the head is pulsing with tremors and rivulets of precum. She wants it <em> inside.</em></p><p>Kara can feel what she’s doing, obviously, and Lena can see how it’s affecting her, and feel it, too, when Kara’s fingers thrust in particularly hard. The alpha grunts, carefully, and takes hold of Lena’s palm, withdrawing her sticky fingers. “Let me get a condom.”</p><p>Lena waits patiently—or rather, patiently enough, only starting to lazily fuck herself once. She feels that’s to her credit. The atmosphere is so hazy, so hot with the strange familiarity, that Lena can hardly think beyond wanting to get Kara into her body. She’s ready for it, so ready that when Kara clambers back onto the bed, cock bobbing proudly in latex wrapping, she climbs the alpha like a tree to sit in her lap again. </p><p>The words on her wrist feel almost like they’re throbbing. It’s pleasurable, but intense. Lena tangles her hand with Kara’s fingers, still wet from her, and holds their marks together. The resulting welcome warmth brings a sigh from both their lips. </p><p>“I was afraid of wanting this.” Lena admits, quietly, while she’s pressing their foreheads together. Here in the curtain of her hair, while Kara holds her hips close, she feels safe enough to say it. “But I do. I want this. I want <em> you </em>.”</p><p>“Say my name.” Kara begs, sweet and shameless, hands slipping up her spine. </p><p>Lena complies, into her lips. “I want you, <em> Kara.”  </em></p><p>When they kiss, she takes hold of Kara’s cock and slips it between her labia, covering the head in her wetness, before easing it inside. </p><p><em> God </em>. They both sigh, and Kara makes a startled noise, but Lena shushes her quiet. She has to concentrate. It’s very thick, and the stretch is overwhelming her senses. </p><p>“You <em> are </em> big.” She confesses, hot and breathy, to Kara’s hair. </p><p>“I know.” The alpha laughs, softly, but she kisses Lena’s forearm, right on the words. “Take it slow and easy, baby.”</p><p>And that—the pet name—is something Lena would never have tolerated from anyone, <em> anyone, </em> ever before in her life. So the fact that when <em> Kara </em> says it, it fills her with a secret, private warmth—-that’s how she knows. This is real. </p><p>She sinks down slowly, breathing through her teeth, and Kara whispers encouragement the whole time. </p><p>“You’re doing so well. Look at you. Taking me so deep, so good. You’re so <em> good.”</em></p><p>“Fuck.” Lena lets out, tightening her grip on Kara’s shoulders. “It <em> feels </em> good.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Kara’s lopsided, tense-with-arousal grin is probably the sexiest thing in the universe. Lena wants it studied and kept under glass. “That’s right.”</p><p>“Haven’t...ever been this full.” Lena manages to grit out, almost to the base. And it’s true, she hasn’t. Not with toys in her heat, not with beta boyfriends, not anything. It’s a wholly different experience to feel the living warmth and heartbeat of Kara’s shaft twitching inside her body. </p><p>Kara just watches her with awestruck, appreciative eyes that might be a little watery, or just shining in the light—Lena doesn’t know. The alpha’s nipples are pink and her lips are the same color, and when she bites them, Lena wants to lean down and kiss it better. So she does. </p><p>And sinks all the way down. </p><p>The groan of relief and welcoming is shared between two mouths. Lena can feel Kara trembling, holding back the urge to thrust, but the alpha stays so gallantly still that Lena wants to kiss her more. It’s sweet, how Kara has let her dictate the pace so far. But every nerve ending, from her cunt to her nape, is on fire with lust and potential and she wants Kara to feel it too. To release. </p><p>She rocks her hips a little, and breaks off to bury her face in Kara’s neck, instinctively nosing at the sweet summery smell just under her jaw, where her pulse beats with hesitancy. “You can move now, darling, it’s okay.”</p><p>Kara’s cock twitches extra hard inside her at the pet name—it just slipped out but <em> oh </em> she likes that Kara likes it—and she feels the alpha tense. And then her hands steady on Lena’s hips and her spine, and she noses at Lena’s ear, and says in a guttural groan: “Hold on.”</p><p>The breath is out of her lungs when Kara fucks her, somewhere in her throat. Somewhere tight and high, making her moans into needy, helpless wails. She’s holding on for dear life to Kara’s shoulders, and she’s rolling her head back, tossed to the ceiling, crying out louder and louder every time Kara brings her hips down with a forceful grunt. Her cunt is pulsing, slippery—an open, fleshy thing made of heat and want—and she’s rocking back down with her hips, chasing the feeling of Kara’s heavy thrusts. </p><p>Kara is angling her hips up with a concentrated look so she can thrust right into the ridged spot right inside the front wall, and every time she does it, Lena goes a little closer to insane. “Fuck, fuck, <em> fuck</em>,” she chants, like a narrator. </p><p>“You feel so good.” Kara tells her, ardent and panting, eyes a wild blue like a glacial spear. “So warm around me. Like you’re made for me.”</p><p>Lena feels made for Kara, in that moment, and her helpless moan reflects it. She’s hanging on Kara’s shoulders for dear life, hips driving urgently down and down and her climax is close on hand, so close, if only she could—</p><p>“You wanna come, baby?” Kara’s hand leaves her hip to thumb over her clit, sudden and sharp, and she cries out, startled. “You’ve been such a good girl. Go ahead, come on this cock. Come on, that’s it.”</p><p>“Kara—“ <em> I’m going to come </em> is how she wanted to finish that sentence. Instead it’s terminated in a long, sharp wail as Kara’s thumb presses <em> just right</em>. And there’s no warning. Just sudden, shocking, intense bliss. </p><p>“Oh, you’re so pretty.” Kara moans with her, kissing against her neck in a way that makes Lena <em> ache </em> for a mark of a different kind. “That’s it. Good girl. <em> Fuck,</em> feels so good.”</p><p>Lena can’t answer back but to shudder and moan, convulsing haplessly on Kara’s lap, while Kara’s cock throbs inside her, prolonging the pleasure with little involuntary jerks and twitches. It’s a maddening, perfect loop. She’s not sure she’s come this hard in….<em>ever</em>, maybe. </p><p>But still, as she drifts back to cognizance, she’s aware that Kara has held back. The alpha is stroking her hair, and smiling at her, but her abs are stiff with tension and her lip is quivering a bit. Kara needs to come. And Lena’s whole being zeros down to a single purpose. </p><p>“You haven’t come yet.” She says, grinding down a bit. </p><p>“No, I—“ Kara makes a low noise when Lena’s inner muscles grip her tightly and then release. “Fuck. I was trying to make sure you did.”</p><p>“Kara.” Lena’s throaty, and a little lost in her omega brain, and she nips at the alpha’s jaw, hands stroking over her back. “<em>Please.”</em></p><p>The alpha nods, looking hazy and distracted. “Okay. Hang on tight.”</p><p>Kara rolls them, and even with the warning, Lena lets out a noise of surprise. But now she’s on her back and Kara is <em> deeper </em>, somehow and the noise turns into a low moan. Kara settles between her open hips and pants down at her, hair all askew from her ponytail and damp with sweat. “Is this okay?”</p><p>Lena nods, and brushes Kara’s hair back, arching her legs over the alpha’s waist. “Fuck me. Don’t hold back.”</p><p>And Kara braces one hand on the headboard, leans down to kiss Lena, and does just that. </p><p>It’s frenzied. Messy. Quick. Lena’s breath is caught up again, and she’s feeling the rush to climax once more, as Kara fucks into her, deep and relentless. The alpha’s marked forearm is beside her face, and she bites at it, mindlessly kissing and sucking the words there, while Kara groans above her, panting with the urgency of it. </p><p>“Lena,” Kara groans, “<em>Lena.”</em> </p><p>“Come in me.” Lena begs, shamelessly arching to grind her clit against the alpha’s frantically thrusting base. “God, I want you to come so hard.”</p><p>“Fuck, I’m gonna.” Kara grinds out, biting at Lena’s neck. Her teeth graze dangerously over Lena’s pulse. “And then later I’m gonna knot you and fill you up and breed you right.” </p><p>That does something primal and entirely omega-controlled to Lena’s clit, and she cries out, tumbling into another orgasm, clinging to Kara’s back and the bed while she shakes and clenches helplessly down. Thankfully, though, the force of her coming jerks Kara out of her rhythm and the alpha cries out, almost sweetly vulnerable, before her release overtakes her body and she crashes onto Lena, sweaty and shuddering as her cock spasms.</p><p>And though Lena is grateful for the condom this time, she is shivery and excited all over for the truth of Kara’s words. They’re going to mate. And she thinks probably going to love every second of it. As she lays under Kara’s heavily breathing body and kisses her back into awareness by nipping at her ear, she thinks she’s probably going to love a <em> lot </em> of things. </p><p>And she’s right about that. </p><p>The recovery period is slow. Sweet, with murmured nonsense words and little bits of laughter. Eventually Kara gets up, kisses Lena thoroughly, and goes to dispose of the condom. They trade bathroom time and Kara laughs at Lena’s wobbly legs, until Lena dispatches her to bring water, which she does. </p><p>When they’re back in bed, covers drawn up and water drunk, Lena finds herself drawn right into Kara’s arms without thinking, without question. It isn’t really surprising anymore. She doesn’t want to be anywhere else. To imagine running from this...impossible. </p><p>She tilts her head up and looks at Kara, who is looking down at her with the kind of dreamy can’t-believe-my-luck adoration that makes her blush. “Hey. Did you imagine this was how you were going to end up spending your night when you woke up this morning?”</p><p>“No way.” Kara snorts. She takes Lena’s hand, drawing little circles on her chest, and kisses it. “My imagination was never very good, anyway. But I always wondered when I would meet you. And how it would be to hear those words and just <em> know</em>. Did you?”</p><p>“It scared me.” Lena confesses, tilting to look up at Kara. “I could just imagine someone saying that to me during sex and tying me to them forever. It made me feel….”</p><p>“Trapped?” Kara supplies, quietly. </p><p>Lena nods. “Yes. And I never wanted to be trapped. Ran away from my parents because they wanted to trap me in a marriage.” She shrugs at Kara’s deep frown. “It’s okay. I don’t feel that way anymore.”</p><p>“You don’t?” Kara asks. </p><p>“No.” Lena tells her, simply. “It doesn’t feel like that, being with you.” She leans down and kisses Kara. Breathes into her mouth. </p><p>“It feels like something growing.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Bored of quarantine and needing a treasure trove of smut? Follow the link in my <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/aspidities"> Tumblr</a> for updates and prompts and gay bullshittery the likes of which you’ve never seen</p></blockquote></div></div>
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